The Witch and Her Companion: I'm Just a Normal High School Student, but I Became the Familiar of the Highest-Ranked Witch. Also, It Seems I'm the Only Guy in the Witch Organization I Joined

Chapter 55: The Witch of Violet Thunder and Priorities

[Todoroki Ryuuna]

──With the operation and role assignments decided, all that remained was to wait for the operation to commence.

Everyone was already in their designated positions, standing by.

My father and I were in charge of handling the monster girl. Of course, fighting her head-on would be utter foolishness.

According to the fluffy head’s intel, that little girl was capable of at least first-class healing magic.

First-class meant that unless we dealt a fatal, instant-kill blow, there was no way we could take her down.

On top of that, they said her offensive magic was quite formidable too—definitely not an opponent we could win against in direct combat.

So, we decided to disguise ourselves as facility staff and drug her.

Regular witches aside, those with high-tier healing magic tend to neglect their own risk management.

A poison would be too obvious; she’d notice immediately and neutralize it. And since our goal wasn’t to kill, we opted for a powerful sleeping drug instead—slow-acting but effective.

I had already given the little girl a dose under the guise of a limited-time tomato juice tasting.

In other words, the moment this drowsy little girl on the bench succumbs to sleep, the operation begins.

＊＊＊

“This is Todoroki Ryuuna. Target X is asleep.”

“…This is Anekitsune. I’ll begin jamming the signals as planned—”

“…This is Hirata. Targets A and a are currently heading toward the Crocodile Pond. Leonardo, hold off on sounding the alarm for now.”

“…This is Leonardo. Understood. You decide when to trigger the alarm. Also, Target D has started moving alone. Looks like they’re veering off the main street in the hot spring district.”

Thanks to the radios Aneko prepared and the magic of the gozarus, we had real-time tracking of the witches’ movements.

Each target had been assigned a codename.

Eleven—the eleventh experiment, Fuu-chan—was the primary objective, so she was designated as A. The one with her, Hare, was a.

Fuu-chan, of course, and Hare were my responsibility as the former agent in charge of New Capital, so I had ensured Hare wouldn’t be killed.

Among the little-girl organization’s witches in the fluffhead’s reconnaissance photos:

The gray-haired one with a kanzashi was B.

Yūbari Hikari was C.

The black-haired, semi-long-haired one (only seen from behind) was D.

The sleepy-eyed one was E.

The newly arrived fifth member, likely the daughter of the witch proprietress, was F.

The little girl who set the operation in motion was labeled X.

Once the alarm sounded, the witches would likely be distracted by the crocodiles. Taking advantage of that, our job as the decoy unit was to launch surprise attacks—capture them if possible, and if not, engage them to keep them away from Target A.

We didn’t know exactly how they would react, and whether I could rush to Hare’s side if something went wrong depended on luck.

『Emergency alert. A crocodile has escaped from Crocodile Pond. If you are outdoors, evacuate immediately to the nearest building or underground shelter. I repeat…』

“…It’s begun. For now, let’s stay hidden nearby. X won’t be waking up, so we’ll focus on mobile support.”

“Yeah. Dad, you stay here. I’ll wait a little farther away. Gozaru’s golems alone might miss some details.”

Of course, that was just an excuse to split up. If I needed to get to Hare, having my father nearby would be a problem.

“Got it. If anything happens, report over the radio. Stay safe.”

“Yeah, yeah. You too, Dad—”

＊＊＊

──How did it come to this?

Everything had been going smoothly, but before I knew it, the situation had spiraled completely out of control.

Fluffy head had sent an urgent request for reinforcements.

I wondered what could have happened with Hare and Fuu-chan… and then I found out—Hare had become Fuu-chan’s familiar.

I hadn’t known. Not even the slightest bit.

Then, as if that weren’t enough, Anekitsune reported that Target D, whom they had supposedly captured, had fought alongside the arriving Target C, forcing them to retreat.

They even had to use the exoskeletal armor—a device that explosively amplifies magical power for a short time but renders the user unable to use magic afterward due to its side effects.

In other words, Torayashiki and Anekitsune were now out of commission.

Maybe overwhelmed by the situation, fluffy head had said he couldn’t afford to hold back against Hare now that he was a familiar—he couldn’t guarantee his life.

I had rushed to the scene, but by the time I got there, Fuu-chan was already gone.

Hare lay bloodied on the ground.

“…Hare, wake up. Listen to me carefully. You’re Fuu-chan’s familiar, right? Focus on your hands—channel your will and seal your wounds. You can do this.”

After chasing off the remaining Kirisaki, I clung to Hare.

This wasn’t how it was supposed to go.

Hare was just an ordinary civilian. I was supposed to pretend to eliminate him and let him escape in secret.

But now—now he was losing so much blood…

A familiar could use their master’s magic, albeit at a reduced effectiveness.

If Fuu-chan’s healing magic was the base, there was still hope.

I didn’t care if Hare saw my face. I just desperately urged him to cast the spell.

“…That’s it. Keep focusing—heal the wound!”

Slowly but surely, his injuries began to mend.

──But just as relief washed over me, a thunderous roar erupted.

It sounded like a lightning strike.

And it had come from the direction where Fuu-chan and fluffy head had gone.

There was no radio report from Leonardo, so it likely wasn’t the little-girl organization’s witches.

“…No way, this sound…”

I recognized it.

The Witch of Violet Thunder.

Bubblegum Klondike.

A Ravens Witch—one who had slaughtered countless inquisitors.

How had she caught wind of this?

After a brief hesitation, I made my decision.

I had to back up fluffhead and Kirisaki.

Kirisaki had already used the exoskeletal armor. She wouldn’t last much longer.

Fluffy head was just a familiar; he’d be no match against a Ravens Witch.

If nothing was done, Fuu-chan would either be captured or, at worst, killed due to some misunderstanding.

I had to save them.

It would be easier to break them out if my organization took them in first—that was the reason I had let fluffy head handle Fuu-chan’s capture in the first place.

“…Hare, I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. I won’t let you die, but… just wait here for a little while.”

My heart felt like it was being torn apart.

If I had played my cards better, would Hare have been spared from this?

If I had had the courage to tell the truth earlier, could I have helped them escape before things got this bad?

This was all my fault.

It was my responsibility to end it.

I turned to leave, but something made me glance back at Hare.

“…Hare, if I don’t come back, figure something out on your own. You can do it. Also, about your house—you can have it now. But you should move soon. Someone might come to kill you.”

This was the last time.

The last time I would see Hare as just Todoroki Ryuuna.

Even if I survived against the Ravens Witch, I’d never see Hare again.

“Fuu-chan… I’ll do what I can. I probably can’t help both of you escape, but…”

And if I managed to free Fuu-chan, I would undoubtedly be branded a traitor and erased.

So this was the end.

“Hey, Hare… Ryuna actually—”

The final chance. The words on the tip of my tongue—I swallowed them.

Tears spilled down my face, landing on Hare’s cheek.

“…Sorry. Bye-bye.”

I wiped my tears away and turned back toward the storm.

I couldn’t say it.